In a delightful reveal, the hitchhiker shows the narrator a notebook. It contains the policeman’s details, badge number, and—crucially—two notebooks the officer had been carrying.
Writing Task 2: In the story, the fingersmith somehow manages to steal the policeman's notebooks, so that he and the narrator won' Bidwell Brook School What is the moral/message of the story, and what are the themes of "The ... Answer and Explanation: The moral or message of the story "The Hitchhiker" by Roald Dahl is that we should treat people how we our... Homework.Study.com year-7-hitchhiker-3-weeks.docx - WordPress.com I was driving up to London by myself. It was a lovely June day. They were haymaking in the fields and there were buttercups along ... WordPress.com the-hitchhiker-mazal-freundlich1.docx 1. The car the narrator is driving is a BMW/ an expensive car/ a fancy car/ a fast car. 2. The Narrator, the hitchhiker and the po... WordPress.com Roald Dahl's The Hitchhiker Story | PDF - Scribd Aug 11, 2025 —
The officer aggressively takes down the driver’s details and the hitchhiker’s information (who claims to be a "hod-carrier"). After the officer leaves, the narrator is distraught over the impending heavy fine and potential prison time. However, the hitchhiker calmly reveals his true identity: he is a —a professional pickpocket of such extreme skill that he has already stolen the narrator’s watch, belt, and even his shoelaces without the driver noticing. hitchhiker roald dahl
The tension ratchets up when the narrator, eager to prove his car’s worth, accelerates to dangerous speeds. Naturally, the blue light of a police motorcycle flashes behind them. This is where Dahl shifts the tone from a casual drive to a legal crisis.
The story begins with the narrator driving a new, powerful BMW from London to Oxford. He is a man who appreciates machinery, specifically the speed and capability of his car. He spots a hitchhiker—a man with "small ratty face" and "dark teeth"—and decides to pick him up. In a delightful reveal, the hitchhiker shows the
The policeman is the story’s true antagonist. He is portrayed not as a protector of the peace, but as a petty bureaucrat drunk on power. He is rude, condescending, and threatening. He treats the narrator with disdain, lecturing him on the "danger" he has caused and threatening a heavy fine or even imprisonment. The encounter leaves the narrator shaken and fearful of the consequences—specifically, the fear of losing his license.
The ultimate twist occurs when the hitchhiker produces the policeman’s notebooks. He had pickpocketed the officer during the interrogation, effectively erasing the evidence of their speeding violation. The Hitchhiker by Roald Dahl | Summary, Analysis & Themes Answer and Explanation: The moral or message of
Roald Dahl is best known for his whimsical and often dark children’s tales, but his short stories for adults reveal a master of the twist ending and a sharp observer of human nature. In “The Hitchhiker,” Dahl takes a seemingly simple premise—a writer picks up a hitchhiker on a long drive to London—and transforms it into a clever, suspenseful meditation on speed, class, and the subversion of authority. Through vivid characterization, a tightly wound plot, and a final, ironic twist, Dahl champions the cunning of the underdog over the brute force of the law, ultimately suggesting that true skill lies not in following rules, but in knowing how to break them.
What makes "The Hitchhiker" so compelling is how Dahl subverts our expectations of morality.
is a minor masterpiece of short fiction. It doesn't rely on gore or ghosts. Instead, it relies on the joy of seeing a petty authority figure outwitted by a scrappy underdog. It is a celebration of skill—whether it is the skill of writing a story or the skill of lifting a wallet from a moving motorcycle cop. In Dahl’s world, the greatest crime isn't stealing; it's being a bore, or worse, a bully with a badge.
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